Friday, 19 December 2014

Each year at this time, we try to
produce our own Christmas card that summarises the past 12 months in Boston. This year, we pondered the question what
if? … what if the events of 2,014 years ago happened in Boston today? Sadly, the outcome is more festering
than festive – but we hope that it will raise a smile regardless – please click
on the image above to see the full sized version.

***

The fact that the card is as it is, is largely due to the
efforts of Boston Borough Council during the year.

As we studied its internet news offerings a pretty
depressing picture began to take shape.

We found 21 references to flooding, six about the need to
ban street drinking, and four about the feeble “name and shame” campaign –
which ironically neither names nor shames the people who appear in the
photographs.

Clearly, the issue of flooding was one that could not be ignored
but – like some toothless old dog worrying at a bone, the borough milked the
event for far longer than was necessary.

Although we have said it before, it bears repeating that Boston
Borough Council’s website is the front-of-house for the borough for people from
around the world. It embraces a huge gamut, from those planning a relatively local visit
to tourists from further afield – even
overseas – as well as people auditioning the area as a place to work and live,
there is really nowhere else much for people to turn to.

And what do they find when they take the trouble to explore
further?

Warnings about the litter strewn state of the town, drinking in the
streets, coupled with the use of public areas as outside lavatories.

Other public areas are gated off, and leisure seating
removed – all in the name of improving public order around the place.

We know how we would feel if we visited the site with a
visit to Boston planned for whatever reason.

We’d look for somewhere more pleasant and civilised instead –
such as Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or North
Korea!

Whilst a spade must be called a spade, and bad news not
brushed beneath the carpet, the borough council unfailingly wrings the
last drop of misery from anything that reflects badly on Boston – and
for the life of us, we can’t understand why.

***

Having said that, one recent attempt to generate some
encouraging news proved slightly baffling as far as we are concerned.

A recent announcement that Phil Drury has been appointed as
the council's acting chief executive after Richard Harbord, left the council at
the end of November included a statement by the great and glorious leader, Pete
Bedford, that the acting position “would
be maintained for no longer than 12 months”
pending a permanent appointment.

The report outlining this to the full council said that
“Savings of approximately £10,000 per month will accrue during the period the post is
vacant and filled on an ‘acting up’ basis. This will be reported
through the quarterly performance reporting process.”

This implies the potential for saving up to £120,000 if the
post is not filled for the entire 12-month period.

But our understanding of the way that local government
finance works is that budgets are drawn up on an annual basis starting in April of each
year.

In other words, the high salary enjoyed by Mr Harbord ceases
to be a part of the budget at the end of March next year.

As he has left the authority, there is no need for his
salary to appear in the next budget and therefore no “savings” to be made,
either.

At least we can be relieved that Mr Harbord’s contract was
apparently constructed in the way that it was, which means there will be no costs
surrounding his departure.

In a BBC radio interview almost three years ago in which he
defended Mr Harbord’s salary of more than £120,000 for just fifteen days’ work
a month, leader Bedford said: “Our Chief Executive is only a part-time
position. He is perfectly at liberty to work for other clients on the days he
does not work for us. The council’s contract with the company means that the
council has no liability for holiday pay, sick pay, national insurance or
pension contributions. There is also no question of employment rights and the
cost arising from that.”

That’s all right then.

Whatever happens next, the council will be considerably
better off financially.

The report to the council said that its Chief Officer
Employment Panel considered options for the future which would consider a
permanent shared or part time Chief Executive for Boston.

However, all of this raises more questions than it answers.

Mr Harbord ran the shop for five years before his departure
– on a high salary, yet only part time.

He was brought in as a trouble shooter, and was much needed
after the hapless reign of the Boston Bypass Independents.

As far as we can see, the trouble bit the dust at a fairly
early stage, but the largesse continued through contract extension after
contract extension.

Had he not left early, Mr Harbord’s contract would have seen
him in post until 31st July 2015 “to provide stability and oversee
any changes that may occur at the next election in May 2015.”

Given the latest developments, this seemed especially pointless,
as Mr Drury has worked at Boston Borough Council since Noah was a lad, and was
perfectly capable of taking over the role in an acting capacity at the point
this “final” extension was agreed.

Now, by the sound of things, he is destined to be a
bridesmaid rather than a bride, as we can see no way that Boston Borough
Council – which is one of the smallest district authorities in the country –
can possibly justify a separate full time £100,000 a year job ... especially
whilst someone else will have been doing that job plus the duties of the
Strategic Director for just £125 a week more than the council has been paying.

It seems to us that the council – rather than saving a
fortune as is now being claimed – has been frittering one away for years and years.

***

Meanwhile, as fast as we write, the bad news overtakes the good,
or so it seems.

The council’s bulletin has even managed to take away some of the joy
and anticipation of Christmas beneath the headline: “Community Safety’s
12 golden rules for the 12 days of Christmas.”

It begins “Christmas is a time for giving and receiving.
Sadly there are some who only want to receive ... mainly your property when you
are not at home or your guard is down.”

Sick bags at the ready …

“Because they love you all, (yeuchh) Boston Borough Council’s
community safety team (Peter, Adam and Donna) have put together 12 golden rules
for the 12 days of Christmas to keep you safe and sound.

There follows a spoof version on the 12 days of Christmas with
the first verse setting the dreary scene.

“On the first day of Christmas my true love said to me...

“Always remember to lock your car and don’t leave windows
open.

“Use a steering lock. Don’t leave keys in the ignition and
the car unattended.”

The following 11 days offer seasonal advice on things such as
“stranger danger, bike and shed thefts and the wisdom of not leaving your drink
unattended in case someone spikes it.

We’re glad that Boston community safety staff love us all –
though we have to say we find that hard to believe.

But we really could do with less mollycoddling
from Worst Street – whose image of a “true love” more closely resembles
one of a music hall mother-in-law.

The advice is nothing more than basic crime prevention –
which is the job of the police, not the borough council in any case …
and we are sure that the people in blue will be saying precisely the same thing
in the near future.

Any day now we expect Boston Borough Council to put the fear
of god into us with suggestions as to how electrical faults in the tree lights
and unattended candles will burn our houses down over Christmas – even though
that’s the job of the fire brigade.

Just for once, couldn’t they simply wish us a merry Christmas
– and sound as though they mean it?

***

Meanwhile, Boston Citizens’ Advice Bureau has been piling on
the agony by announcing that the exploitation of migrant workers is increasing
after the number of people seeking help had doubled in the last year to 12
cases a week.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire police added the icing on the
Christmas cake by telling the BBC "There is a level of exploitation, through
slavery and servitude, through sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, that
because it is hidden behind doors, or it is in factories, people just don't see
it but we will see more and more of this going on unless we do something about
it.”

***

And it seems that even if you do earn a decent wage, a
greedy landlord is on standby to part you from as much of it as possible.

Recent figures claimed that Boston is one of the most
unaffordable places to live in the East Midlands … taking third place
in a list of 20 locations where rent is not affordable compared to annual
earnings.

The figures, compiled by the National Housing Federation,
match an average monthly rent of £560 in Boston against annual income for a
person in the town of £20,748 which means Boston is more ‘unaffordable’ to rent
a property in than Melton, Wellingborough and Mansfield.

***

If all of the above paints a bleak and gloomy portrait, that’s because
it’s bleak and gloomy out there.

But so much could
be done to make improvements which would have the knock-on effect of bettering Boston’s
image. The problem is that the political will seems to be lacking
– and despite the fact that we now have a combined opposition that is well
placed to push for the delivery of some of the many improvements it has been calling
for, all its members do is sit on their hands and say nothing.

Meanwhile the best that anyone seems to come up with is to
bask in the reflected glory of others who are getting on with the real business of
trying to develop interest in their home towns.

One such example is the decision to sign up to a
re-incarnated Hanseatic League which has apparently done good things for
tourism and business in Kings Lynn – which is therefore taken to mean that it could
do the same in Boston.

Next, of course, Boston will be throwing its lot in with the
celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the departure of the
Pilgrim Fathers for the new world in 1620 – even though the Pilgrim Fathers’ link to
Boston is far more tenuous than many Bostonians like to imagine.

***

Irony is cruel sometimes – and an excellent demonstration
can be seen in the latest contribution to the local free magazine Simply Boston from our great and
glorious leader.

For as long as we can recall, Mr Bedford has managed to fob
the magazine off by sending “Peter’s
Notes” that are not only hopelessly out of date, but which have often been
published somewhere else previously.

For his first apparent stab at originality, it is therefore
unfortunate that he chose CCTV to praise
as an outstanding achievement by Boston Borough Council.

But it does roll trillingly off the tongue and makes a good
headline, doesn’t it?

Boston’s CCTV system was recently upgraded at a cost of
£230,000 and the cameras are now described as “state of the art” – whatever
that means.

“They record everything they see,” the leader huffed in Simply Boston.

“They see in the dark. They zoom in, they track.”

What a pity then, that they don’t apparently cover important
areas where some of the town’s night clubs are located.

Way, way back in August, there was what the police have
called a “sexually motivated” attack in Liquorpond Street.

A photo of a man that they wanted to trace was circulated
from a camera at the H20 nightclub.

The police said that: “After leaving the club, the man is
captured on town CCTV walking along the street, and we are now releasing that moving footage
in the hope that it may jog someone’s memory …”

However, the video is not of any great help – and if you
don’t believe us – take a look at a couple of stills from it.

It might be thought that a nightclub would be a slam dunk as
a location for one of Boston’s “state of the art” cameras – but apparently
not.

As a result, whilst Boston Borough Council can issue a
detailed en print between the time it
takes for someone to spit and for the gobbet to hit the ground, it has taken
the police almost four months to cobble together scraps of near useless footage
to try to detect a much more serious event – which may well go unsolved as a
result

***

To compound the irony, it is only two and a half years ago
that the self-same leader who now preaches the value of CCTV was threatening
that security cameras could be turned off in a debate over who should pay for
them.

A local “newspaper” reported: “Boston Borough Council leader
Peter Bedford told councillors … that it was looking to cut its spending on
CCTV provision.

“He called for businesses in the town to foot some of the
bill and singled out housing association Boston Mayflower as a particularly
‘big user’ of the cameras to cover its properties in Fenside.

“Councillor Bedford revealed the social housing provider had
‘never paid a fee’ and warned: ‘If Mayflower are not going to pay the cameras
will have to be removed.’"

“After the meeting a council spokesman said: "As part
of our on-going efficiency programme the council is considering the future of
its CCTV coverage of the Fenside Estate.

"Fenside has the highest level of CCTV coverage of any
residential area in the borough which, as a consequence of our on-going review,
has prompted us to question the value for money these cameras return.”

Hmmm.

Value for money?

Was it being said that crime is only worth monitoring and possibly
preventing if there was a big enough pay back for Boston Borough Council?

It would seem so.

The same story also reported: “Questions have been raised
about the council's plans to save £70,000 a year by sharing CCTV control room
services with City of Lincoln Council and South Kesteven District Council.

“A council spokesman stressed the control room proposal was
‘unconnected’ to the issue over the Fenside cameras and said talks were
continuing with the ‘potential partner organisations.’”

Isn’t it interesting that Fenside … where 123 crimes were
reported in October, and which is considered one of the most deprived wards in
the country
was not that long ago deemed not to be worth the expense of CCTV cameras –
unless someone else was paying, of course?

***

The phone rang whilst we were writing this, and a nervous
young man identified himself as a canvasser for the Boston and Skegness branch
of UKIP – although the number was not a local one.

Perhaps we’ve been lucky in the last and not received this
type of call, but if not, it demonstrates an escalation in the war for our
votes.

And no-one seems to have been in the wars more than UKIP in
recent days, with yet another candidate – Kerry Smith – resigning for saying things
that he shouldn’t in this day and age.

Although the seat involved was way dahn sarf – in South Basildon and East Thurrock – the name of Neil Hamilton surfaced yet again.

Hamilton had been shortlisted for the seat and expected to
win when he stepped aside in favour of Smith, who was deselected in October
without explanation and a new contest was ordered, which was due to include Hamilton
and Natasha Bolter, a former Labour supporter.

Pay attention – we may ask questions afterwards.

The contest descended into chaos as UKIP queried Hamilton’s
expenses and Bolter became involved in a controversy about whether the party’s
general secretary, Roger Bird, had made inappropriate sexual advances towards
her.

The upshot was that Hamilton withdrew at the 11th
hour, and Smith was re-selected – only to resign within a day or so.

Every time stories like these appear, the Boston and Skegness
constituency name is trawled through the mire and it is ironic that Hamilton
pulled out of our local race after saying of Boston: “I came, I saw, I liked
what I saw and that is what has made my mind up."

He added that he had decided to stand in the constituency
because it won the highest number of regional votes for UKIP in the European
elections in May.

“I obviously want to be in at the kill," he declared.

Then he went, stood elsewhere, nearly got selected and then
withdrew yet again.

In an effort to clarify matters the Financial Times reported on Monday: “War has broken out at the top
of the UK Independence party, with officials accusing one of its most
significant funders of trying to pressure them into accepting the parliamentary
candidacy of Neil Hamilton, the former Conservative MP.

"Two senior UKIP officials have told the Financial Times that Stuart Wheeler, the party’s second-largest
donor, has threatened not to give any more money before the next election if Mr
Hamilton does not get a seat.

“The row blew up on Wednesday night after a letter was
leaked from UKIP high command to Mr Hamilton asking him to explain apparent
anomalies in his expense claims.

“Mr Hamilton, who saw the letter as he arrived at a hustings
event in Basildon South, one of UKIP's top targets for 2015, withdrew his
candidacy, but criticised the leak as a “dirty tricks” campaign. He did not
comment on the veracity of the allegations.

“Mr Hamilton, who was once accused of accepting money to ask
parliamentary questions when he was a Tory MP — something he denies — is being
supported by Mr Wheeler. One member of the party leadership said: “I don’t care
how powerful his patron is, we are not caving [in] to this.”

“Andrew Reid, who took over from Mr Wheeler as the party’s
treasurer six months ago, told the FT: “Nobody gets to buy a seat for someone
else in UKIP.”

“Others in the party are furious at what they see as unfair
treatment of Mr Hamilton, who previously stood aside from the seat of Boston and
Skegness under what they claim was heavy pressure from Nigel Farage,
the party leader.

“A spokesman for Mr Farage did not comment.

“One senior party member close to the dispute said: “This is
all to do with Nigel's ego. He thinks he may not win in Thanet South [the seat
for which he has been selected], so he is determined to bring Neil down. He
cannot bear the thought Neil might be an MP but not Nigel.”

We thought that general elections were a grown up affair.

How wrong can you get?

***

Co-incidentally we saw two of our candidates in action last
weekend.

Conservative Matt Warman was manning a flagpole in the middle
of Strait Bargate, and perhaps musing on whether to rechristen himself Matt
Coldman after a few hours of such campaigning.

At least he’ll appreciate why people are moaning when the
complaints about being brushed aside by passing Brylaine buses using the town’s
most notorious rat run are being made.

***

The other candidate was UKIP’s Boy Wonder Robin Hunter-Clark, who had a far
more comfortable time of things in a session with a couple of other candidates
on Sunday’s Dermot Murnaghan
political marathon on Sky news.

We watched the encounter and found nothing noteworthy –
although we would counsel the candidate against gurning as often as he did, as
it is most disconcerting.

However, one thing he declared with great emphasis was “when
you vote UKIP, you get UKIP.”

Whilst it’s a splendid sound bite, it rings a little hollow
here in Lincolnshire, where voting UKIP got you UKIP for as long as it took
everyone to fall out, call themselves something else entirely for a brief spell
and in many cases then defect to the Lincolnshire Independents – which are now
reported to be considering a coalition with UKIP to seize the official
opposition on Lincolnshire Council from Labour.

Such a pity that all they seem to spend their time doing is
posturing and playing power games instead of trying to make
Lincolnshire a better place for the people who live here.

***

But we did get a smile out of politics for a change when
Nigel Farage appeared on BBC’s Question
Time, and responded to a question on whether politics had become too petty
and adversarial in nature.

One thing that he did highlight was the changing nature of
the modern candidate … click on the video clip below to hear what he said …

A career professional political class?

Never had a job in their lives?

Straight into the back office aged 23, and then become
career politicians

They lack a breadth of experience …

… No proper ideology in politics.

Who on earth could Mr Farage have had in mind?

Perhaps we could ask 22 year-old Robin Hunter-Clark, who has
never had what you might call a "real" job, and whose “ideology” in politics has already seen him defect
from the Tories to UKIP having started in the “back office” of a Skegness town
council seat.

***

We note that the location of polling stations in Boston
borough has been rearranged ahead of next May’s local elections which will see
a change in the structure of the council and its members.

The number of councillors will fall from 32 to 30, and some
new ward names will appear to reflect the changes to the planned areas.

Newcomers will include Trinity, Station and St Thomas.

Boston Borough Council says that all registered electors
will be notified of the changes in advance of May 7th next year – but without
saying how soon.

We think that sooner, rather than later, would be preferable,
as it would be helpful to see a simple map to show electors who will be voting
in new wards where they are and whether the numerical representation will be
changing.

***

It seems as if the New Year will start with yet another
vacant shop front in Boston. A notice in the window of the Age Concern premises in the community
rooms tells us that they are moving to the former Garfit’s Bank in the High
Street, which has a chequered history.

The listed building, which was the first bank in Boston, lay
in a ruinous state for years – not helped by the meddling of Boston Borough Council
which at the end of the day cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds.

It is now used for community purposes – one of a
growing number in the town, whose purpose is little more than one step up from
being a mobile phone or charity shop.

Whilst Age Concern
worked hard to keep its present Wide Bargate premises – the former Sketchley’s
Cleaners – in the same dilapidated state in which they found them, the building
was at least well placed as a central community focus.
Quite what the thinking is behind moving way down the High Street, where access
and parking is difficult, is anyone’s guess.

Certainly, we cannot see that it will benefit the people the
organisation is meant to be serving – although it will doubtless be far more
pleasant for those who work there.

***

Finally, we believe that Boston Borough Council omitted two
golden rules from the earlier list of suggestions apparently designed to keep
you sleepless with worry throughout the festive period.

The doomsayers omitted the following
vital warnings.

“On the 13th Day of Christmas, my true love said
to me – be sure to fit a cowl on your chimney pot. Should Santa Claus get stuck
in the flue there is a serious risk of the occupants of the house suffering
from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“On the 14th day of Christmas, my true love said
to me – make sure that you take the proper precautions to prevent reindeer from
landing on the roof, where they could cause considerable damage and unwanted
insurance claims at this already expensive time of year.

“For the avoidance of doubt, spending money, and being
helpful to taxpayers, Boston Borough Council does not offer any assistance in preventing
a reindeer incident.

“There are proprietary products available such as Hoof-Off™
and ClopStop™
so don’t waste your breath asking us for help, as the responsibility for
safeguarding homes and businesses lies with the owner.

“Having said that, some supplies are being held at the
council offices specifically to secure the solar panels at the Moulder Leisure
Centre, and protect them from harm.”

***

That’s it for this week – and for this year.

We really mean it when we say that we wish you a merry Christmas and
happy New Year, and we thank all our readers for their loyalty to Boston Eye during
the year.

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About the author

is written and edited by retired Lincolnshire born writer and broadcaster Malcolm Swire, who was brought up in London, where he began his career in journalism.
In the 1960s he joined the Boston Standard before returning to London to write for the UK’s national news agency, the Press Association – then based in Fleet Street.
He returned to Lincolnshire –where his family history goes back more than a century – in various public relations roles, before becoming a founder member of BBC Radio Lincolnshire,where he created the station's Go for Gold appeal,which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.
Over the years, he read the news, presented programmes and retired from the BBC as the station's Programme Organiser and Deputy Managing Editor.
He started the Boston Eye blog in February 2007 and has vowed to continue until Boston Borough Council's leadership is all that it should be!
He has dug in for a long wait!